species mentioned in Scripture, which are now certainly extinct, are the lion and the reém, or unicorn, i.e., the aurochs, but all the larger species have, through the denudation of the forests and the persecution of man, become very much more rare, and some merely linger in the remote fastnesses.

Of the wild beasts once so formidable but few remain to be the terror of the flocks, and none which, unprovoked, will attack man. The wolf, indeed, prowls in small numbers to take advantage of an unguarded flock; the hungry packs of jackals still wake the echoes of the night round the folds and villages: and the hyæna prowls in the burying grounds, and seeks with hideous laugh his uncleanly feasts among bones and carcases; but the lion's roar is no longer heard, and the leopard skulks only in the densest coverts on the sides of Carmel and Gilead, or in the few forests of Galilee, while the bear has retired to the fastnesses of Hermon and Lebanon.

The wild goat still leaps about the cliffs of Engedi, 'the fountain of the kid,' and the gazelle troops not only over the wide plains and downs of Southern Judæa, but even in the valleys of Samaria and Galilee, and up to the very gates of Jerusalem; but the larger antelopes and the deer have long since been hunted out of Western Palestine, and are rarely seen, save on the borders of Gilead and on the Plains of Bashan. The wild boar is still very common, the dread and the abomination of the careful husbandman, whose fields it ravages without remorse, but it seldom visits the neighbourhood of the towns on the coast. The stony rocks, both north and south, are still a refuge for the conies, and hares of various kinds course over al the plains. The lesser rodents are very numerous, and many of them most interesting and curious; marmots. jerboas, rats, and mice, differing in species according to the character of the district, like those of Southeri Europe in the north, and Arabian and African species in the south. Our list of these is probably by no means complete, nor is that of the bats, which find a congenial home in the caverns and ravines of every wady.

Several Hebrew words are translated 'beasts.' (1.) Behemah,' the general term for cattle, sometimes also for quadrupeds, as opposed to fowls and creeping things,

as "clean beasts . . . and beasts that are not clean " (Gen. vii. 2). It is also applied to beasts of burden: "to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts" (1 Kings xviii. 5), &c. Sometimes also to wild beasts: "I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them" (Deut. xxxii. 24), &c. (2.) Chayah,' meaning a living thing, but more generally confined to carnivorous animals, beasts of the field,' as in Hos, xiii. 8: The wild beasts shall tear them." So Deut. vii. 22: "Thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee." (3.) Be'îr, i.e., 'pasturers' or 'grazers,' used only of domestic cattle or of beasts of burden: "So thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink" (Numb. xx. 8), &c.

We may, for convenience, consider the animals referred to in Holy Scripture in the alphabetical order of the names by which they are rendered in our version.

APES, Heb. kophim, are only mentioned in the account of the commodities imported by King Solomon from Tharshish: "Once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks" (1 Kings x. 22; 2 Chron. ix. 21). The Hebrew word points out both the animal intended and the country from which it came, since it is identical with the modern Tamil name for monkey, as also the words used to express ivory and peacocks are Tamil. The Tharshish of Solomon must, therefore, have been some part of Ceylon or of Southern India, unless it were used to express those countries generally.

The word 'ape' is generally used among ourselves for the tailless quadrumana, and monkey,' for those which have tails. All the animals of this order in Ceylon and Southern India belong, with the exception of the bonneted monkey (Inuus pileatus) and its congeners, to the genus Semnopithecus, or Presbytes, of which at least six species are recognised in those regions. They are known as the Wanderoo monkeys, and have short tails. Probably, the Hebrew word is generic, and applied to the monkey tribe in general. No species of ape is found wild either in Palestine or the adjacent regions, although the Barbary ape (Inuus sylvanus) is common throughout the Atlas range, and extends even to Gibraltar, and an allied species is found so far north as Japan. The Hebrews may probably have been acquainted with some of the African

baboons which are perhaps spoken of under the term Satyr, in Isa. xiii. 21; xxxiv. 14. [See SATYR. |

Ass.-Three Hebrew words apply to the domesticated ass: (1.) Chamôr, 'he-ass,' like the Arabic Hhămar, so called from its tawny' colour. (2.) Athon, 'she-ass,' and (3.) 'Ayir, 'a colt,' or 'young ass."

The origin of the domestic ass (Asinus vulgaris) is from the true Onager, or Asinus vulgaris, the wild ass of Northeast Africa, and to Egypt, therefore, we may, with good reason, refer its reclamation. But the period when man first availed himself of the services of the ass as a beast of burden is lost in antiquity. Its use may be traced on the monuments of Egypt and Assyria. Abram rode on an ass, and, in the days of the earliest patriarchs, herds of asses were an important item in their possessions.

It is remarkable that, notwithstanding the length of time that has elapsed since its original domestication, and entirely changed as it is in habits and disposition, the ass has altered less from its pristine form and colour, and is less liable to variations in these respects, than any other domestic animal. It still, in all climates and under all circumstances, retains the general tone of colour which belongs to the wild race, and from which it derives its name, as well as the black line down the back and the transverse black stripe on the shoulders; and the diversities of colour are, for the most part, merely different shades of the same primitive hue. When, however, we read of the ass in Holy Scripture, we must not picture to ourselves the stunted, degraded, spiritless, and illused creature which we too often meet with in northern countries, where the ass has degenerated both in size and spirit from the powerful and nimble animal of the East. The ass is less capable of enduring cold than the horse, and has often degenerated as it has advanced northwards. In Syria, it has almost as much care be stowed on it as the horse; it is groomed and well fed, always obtaining its share of barley with its equine companions; great attention is paid to the cultivation of the breed, and the finest and tallest he-asses are carefully selected. These attain a height of thirteen to fourteen hands. They have often great vivacity, and exhibit both ingenuity and humour, sometimes decidedly mischievous. One of our asses which had been severely beaten for mis conduct by a member of our party, never forgot the cir

cumstance, but while ready to sniff and caress any of the others, would stand demurely whenever his old enemy was near, as if unconscious of his presence, until he was within reach of his heels, when a sharp sudden kick, with a look of more than ordinary asinine stolidity, was the certain result. The Eastern ass will accomplish quite as long a day's journey as the horse or the camel; though its speed is not so great, it will maintain an easy trot and canter for hours without flagging, and always gains on the horse up the hills or on the broken ground. The price of a well bred ass is from 10l. to 201., almost equal to that of a horse.

The ass is frequently mentioned in Scripture as being ridden by persons of wealth and quality, as indeed it is to the present day in the East. Thus Abraham saddled his ass to go from Beersheba to Mount Moriah (Gen. xxii. 3); Balaam proceeded on his ass from Chaldæa to Moab (Numb. xxii. 21), when he was rebuked by the Lord for his iniquity: "The dumb ass, speaking with man's voice, forbad the madness of the prophet (2 Pet. ii. 16). The disobedient prophet who came from Judah to Bethel rode on an ass (1 Kings xiii. 23); the thirty sons of Jair, the judge, rode on thirty ass colts, a proof of wealth and dignity (Judg. x. 4). The family of Abdon the Judge, seventy in number, all rode on asses, a mark of wealth and rank (Judg. xii. 14). So did Ahithophel and Mephibosheth (2 Sam. xvii. 23; xix. 26).

Asses were especially used by women, as by Zipporah (Exod. iv. 20). Achsah, the daughter of Caleb, lighted from off her ass when she petitioned her father for a dowry of springs of water (Judg. i. 14). Abigail rode on her ass to meet David (1 Sam. xxv. 20); and the wealthy Shunamite woman saddled an ass when she set out to fetch Elisha (2 Kings iv. 24). White asses were an especial mark of rank and dignity.

Thus Deborah

addresses the judges as "Ye that ride on white asses;" and white asses are still in high esteem. Bagdad is celebrated for its breed of white asses, which are considered more fleet than others; and they are to be seen also in Damascus, where they command fancy prices, but are tender, and do not flourish near the coast.

Zechariah had foretold of our Redeemer: "Behold thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal

of an ass (ix. 9). In reading this prophecy, and the record of its fulfilment, we must not associate the idea of humiliation, still less of degradation, with the riding on asses' colts. The contrast is rather between the entry of an earthly conqueror and of a peaceful judge. The ass was the peaceable animal of the Prince of Peace, in opposition to the proud war-horse of the conqueror. The horse was never used for agricultural, rarely for peaceful, purposes, and was intimately associated in the Jewish mind with warriors and military pomp. The mention of the sons of the Judges riding on asses' colts, as a mark of peaceful dignity, sufficiently shows that the manner of our Lord's entry did not symbolize humiliation, but peace. He entered," riding upon an ass, even" (as it should be translated) "upon a colt," as did the sons of Jair. The colt, never having before been ridden, was also symbolical; a new time, a new Prince, a new animal to ride upon, which had not been under the yoke. The mother is led with it, to quiet it for the service.

The ass was also used for carrying burdens, and from its strength Issachar is compared to "a strong ass couching down between two burdens" (Gen. xlix. 14). Jacob's sons carried their corn from Egypt to Canaan on asses. Abigail laded asses with her presents for David's men, as did the Israelites, to welcome him as king in Hebron; and in the days of Nehemiah, as at present, the commodities for the market at Jerusalem were brought in on asses. It was also employed in agricul- ture, as for ploughing: "The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear (i.e., till) the ground, shall eat clean provender" (Isa. xxx. 24); “Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass (xxxii. 20). It was, however, forbidden to yoke these two together: "Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together (Deut. xxii. 10), a prohibition which was probably symbolical, like that against a mingled seed in the preceding verse, and against mingled garments, &c., in Lev. xix. 19, teaching to avoid improper alliances in religious or civil life. The prohibition may have been also one of humanity towards the ass, which would be thus unequally yoked.

as

The flesh of the ass was unclean, and it is recorded a proof of the terrible severity of the famine in